You probably know about the tradition of trick-o-treating around Halloween and caroling around Christmas, but do you know anything about wassailing in January?! Well, if you don’t, never worry – it’s a less popular custom than the previous two, but just as curious and heart-warming.
What is wassailing?
Wassailing is an ancient tradition (probably from the time of the Celts) which involves visiting neighbours, singing songs for good luck or blessings and – drinking a warm, spicy, alcoholic drink. It is usually performed either on the Twelfth Night (5th January or Epiphany Eve) or on 17th January. There are two variations of it.
How is it performed?
The first variant is probably the older one. In this one, a little procession visits apple and pear orchards lead by the wassail queen and king. Then the queen is lifted up to reach the branches, and hangs pieces of toast soaked in alcohol. (They attract robins, which are a sign of luck.) This is supposed to please the spirits of apple and pear trees. Then they make scary noises and finally, fire a shot into the air to scare away ghosts and witches. And finally, they move on to the next place. (Of course, at certain points, there is some drinking involved, too...)
In the second variant, people go door to door and sing to the host and hostess of the house to bless their home and wish them a happy new year. Then they drink from the Wassail bowl, which is a big container that holds the drink prepared for this occasion. This version probably started in the middle ages and involved gift giving between the lord and his visitors - usually peasants.
The wassail
The drink called wassail is originally mulled (hot) apple cider with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg but mulled wine or any other kind of punch can also be drunk for the occasion.
The origin of the word
The word wassail is thought to come from the Old Norse expression „vas heil” which means „be healthy” or „good health”. Later it developed into the first part of a drinking formula: „wassail – drinkhale”!
Finally, to get into the mood, here's a little collection of my favouritre wassailing songs from Youtube:
Vocabulary:
Epiphany - vízkereszt
procession - felvonulás
orchard - gyümölcsös
robin - vörösbegy
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